CARSON, Calif. (AP) 鈥� No more playful dances. No more . Belgium is done celebrating its victory over the host United States and hard at work on extending its World Cup run on American soil.
The Red Devils trained in the Los Angeles area on Wednesday with the memory still fresh of their in Seattle on Monday. After surviving a test from Senegal with a thrilling comeback and then thoroughly dominating the U.S. in its first two knockout games, Belgium faces its toughest challenge yet against in the quarterfinals on Friday.
But this tumultuous World Cup run has sparked something in this Belgian team, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois believes.
鈥淲e gained a lot of confidence, because we knew it was going to be a hard game against America,鈥� Courtois said at the LA Galaxy’s suburban stadium. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e obviously the home team with a full stadium (that’s) with them, so it鈥檚 nice to perform in a good way defensive, offensively, and just play our game.鈥�
Belgium went into the U.S. matchup with a world of indignant motivation after star American forward Folarin Balogun’s . The Red Devils took it out on an outclassed American team and then celebrated gleefully, both on the pitch and in the dressing room.
In the most viral moment, many players associated with U.S. President Donald Trump and performed by numerous athletes across the sports world in recent months, including American star Christian Pulisic.
Belgium left back Diego Moreira smiled slightly when asked about the meaning of doing the dance after Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to ask for a review of Balogun’s red card.
鈥淭here are different ways to celebrate different goals,鈥� Moreira said through an interpreter. 鈥淵ou can do different dances, and that鈥檚 what we鈥檝e done. We just celebrated the win after the game.鈥�
Courtois said he wasn鈥檛 in the dressing room because he was at doping control, so he couldn’t comment on the dance.
The Red Devils say they’ve put that cathartic evening behind them after landing for their second game of the tournament to be played at SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area.
Belgium was still in a mood to argue with Americans, however: The team moved its training base on Wednesday with FIFA approval after deciding that its assigned fields at Los Angeles’ Loyola Marymount University 鈥渄id not meet the minimum standards required for our training session,鈥� according to a statement from the Royal Belgian Football Association.
Belgium will be an underdog against Spain, which has yet to concede a goal in this World Cup. That’s fine with the Red Devils, who have played their best soccer of the tournament since their stirring rally from a 2-0 deficit to beat Senegal 3-2.
When asked about facing powerhouse Spain, Courtois’ mind immediately went to Belgium’s 2-1 victory over Brazil in the World Cup eight years ago in Russia. That upset sent the Red Devils to the semifinals for the first time in 32 years.
鈥淭hey were favored against us, and maybe they were more individually with more quality in the team,鈥� Courtois said. 鈥淏ut I feel we are a great team all together now, and we are fighting. Especially (the match) against Senegal showed our ability to keep believing until the end, and that鈥檚 also a strength at the World Cup. The important thing is to win games. It鈥檚 a nice thing to also play well, but the most important thing is to win and to compete, and that鈥檚 what we did.鈥�
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